Review: The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil

I’m on the hunt for my Holy Grail of face cleansers, and am simultaneously on a buying ban.
No problem, when I cleaned Miss K’s and my communal bathroom, I hit the jackpot.
We belong on an episode of Hoarders, I swear that I uncovered almost 20 different face cleansers, some of which had not been opened, along with tons of masques, and enough shampoo and conditioner to last the next 6 months.
We have a tiny bathroom, so the fact that this was all stashed in there was impressive; most of it had been “put away” and forgotten about.

But enough about our terrible housekeeping, onto the review.

I am very lucky in that my days of pimples are 98% behind me; on the occasion I do get a pimple, it is just one, and its usually nothing too dramatic.  I’m putting this down to a combination of BC and an actual face care routine (Dear 16y.o me, moisturiser is your friend)
But I need something that is going to keep my face feeling and looking fresh, without upsetting it, or making it oily or dry. Working in food means that I often come home feeling a bit gross, and need something that will make me feel human again.

I tend to opt for gentler cleansers, and the popularity of the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM) has meant a large number of oil cleansers hitting the shelves, one of which is The Body Shop’s Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil.

This product retails for $26.95 for 200mls at The Body Shop; of course my purchasing it O.S on sale meant I only paid about $8 for it.
So would I purchase this at full price?

It smells very vaguely of camomile, as the name would suggest, but it’s not enough fragrance to bother the sensitive. It contains synthetic and natural emollients; whereas the oil cleansers I have used previously have been 100% natural oils, so the texture of this is slightly thinner than I would have expected from an “oil”

Ingredients:

Glycine Soja Oil/Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil , Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil/Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil , Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil/Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil , C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride , Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Isohexadecane , Polysorbate 85 , Sorbitan Trioleate, Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil/Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil , Octyldodecanol , Parfum/Fragrance , Linalool , Tocopherol, Limonene, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Citric Acid .

It’s easy to use, simply apply to dry skin, and add water to emulsify and cleanse. (I personally prefer putting it on a warm wet facecloth and using that on my face) It’s claim is that it can even remove waterproof makeup, whilst providing a gentle cleanse. Unfortunately, this cleanser struggles to remove any eye makeup; but it is great at gently removing foundation.
As it claims, it provides a gentle clean, keeping the skin free of impurities. My skin has stayed looking clear, but I have felt on some nights that I needed that little bit extra, and used an additional product or a face scrub.
In all honesty, I think that this is a nice way to remove light makeup before a heavy duty cleanser, or as a cleanser for when your skin is very sensitive. If you’re into double cleansing, I think this would be an excellent first cleanser, again to gently remove makeup and residue from your day.
At $26.95 however, I can think of several other similar products that are cheaper, and possibly more effective cleansers. An upside to the price is that you need very little, one pump of this will do your whole face. I’ve been using it for over a month, and haven’t even used up a third of the bottle.
If you can get this at a good price, and you’re looking for a very gentle cleanse, go for it. But this certainly is not making it onto my holy grail product list.

Have you tried this or the OCM? Let me know your favourite oil cleansing products in the comments!

-Miss A

 

 

Is it a Dupe? Benefit High Beam vs Face of Australia Mineral Therapy Face and Body Illuminator in “Angel Mist”

Australia really gets the short end of the stick when it comes to cosmetic prices; New Zealand has it even worse. Typical “Drustore” products that retail for under $10 in the USA are ridiculously inflated by 2, 3 or 4+ times the cost. If most “Drugstore” products are easily hitting the $20 mark, it doesn’t leave much hope with the affordability of higher end products.

So when I come along a product that is a potential dupe for a higher end product, I jump on that shiz.

Miss K and I recently went to the USA and hauled back with us an incredible amount of cosmetics (I’m talking 200+ Nail polishes here people) and that included a number of products we just could not justify the cost of back here.

Imagine my surprise when I found a dupe for a product that was not only cheaper, but an Australian product.
As is evident by the title of this post, I’m talking about Benefit High Beam, and its striking resemblance to Face of Australia’s Face and Body Illuminator in the shade “Angel Mist”

I actually owned High Beam first, and picked up Angel Mist on a whim because it was hugely marked down. Here we have them side by side; the most evident difference is the size. Angel Mist is a whopping 50ml whereas High Beam comes in at a scanty 13mL

High Beam retails for $45AUD ($3.46 per mL), whereas Angel Mist is only $14.95 ( ~$0.30 per mL). I picked up my Angel Mist for $5 ($0.10 per mL). So Angel mist comes out miles ahead as far as affordability; you don’t really even need 50mL of the stuff, split the cost with up to 5 friends, and you all get roughly the equivalent amount of some High Beam for a teeny tiny $3 a piece.

I might be a tiny bit biased already on cost factor, so how do they shape up appearance wise? My apologies for the awful picture on the left, did not realise until I had packed everything up for the day!

 

If you look closer you can see that High Beam looks a wee bit pinker

The other big difference is the containers, Highbeam has a brush applicator, Angel Mist is in a tube. I don’t personally use the High Beam brush for application, but the Angel Mist tube has the tendency to expel way more product than I want, so no winner for packaging here.

Now on my skin! Illuminator is a tricky bugger to photograph!

On the right we have Angel Mist, on the left is High Beam firstly in sunlight, unblended, as you can see again, High Beam appears pinker

Texture wise, Angel Mist is slightly runnier

Here I have lightly blended, first in sunlight, then in artificial light

The variation here is due to the angle at which I am holding my arm, the intensity of both colour changes with the angle of the light (I have no idea how to photograph this accurately!!!),at first, I thought high beam was pinker, then I thought angel mist was pinker.

Long story short, on my skin I can’t tell the difference.

They both glow like anything under artificial light, look lovely in sunlight, and do what they are supposed to.

Here are the ingredients lists for your own comparison 🙂 and fyi, both products are cruelty free.

High Beam Ingredients:  Water (Aqua), Caprylic/Capric/Succinic Triglyceride, Mica, Pentylene Glycol, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Dimethicone, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/ Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Dimethicone Peg-7 Phosphate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Phenoxyethanol, Steareth-21, Squalane, Caprylyl Glycol, Steareth-2, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 60, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxide.  [+/-:  Aluminum Hydroxide (Ci 77002), Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891)].

Angel Mist Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Isopropyl Palmitate, Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, Squalane Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, Triethanolamine, Lecithin, Propylene Glycol, Magnesium Aluminium Silicate, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Dimethicone, Polysorbate 60, Cellulose Gum, Tocopheryl Acetate, Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol. May Contain: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.

For my money, I know what I am buying. Face of Australia is regularly on sale, but with a full sized high beam and my tube of Angel Mist, I have enough Illuminator to impersonate a Twilight Vampire (bletch) on the reg, so I am set for now.

Have you you found any dupes recently? Let me know in the comments!

-Miss A

 

 

 

 

Rainy Day Swatches: Essence Metal Glam Trend Edition

Brisbane’s awful weather has really upset my plans for clear photos, so instead of my very exciting post about a high end dupe, we have some swatches of Essence’s latest trend edition, Metal Glam.

I was very excited to getting my paws on this collection as it features both a liquid blush and a highlighter!

Source: http://www.essence.eu/au/trend-editions/metal-glam/

As you can see, this trend edition also features nailpolishes $2.95 (including one glitter topper $3.50 ), lipgloss $3.50, some stick on beauty accessories and nail stickers/polishes $3.50 and new metal glam eyeshadows $4.25.

Miss K grabbed the nailpolishes, but I had eyes only for that blush ($4.95) and the highlighter ($5.35)

Our little haul!

Here we have the blush in shade Glam-me in artificial light, it comes off as a peachy/coral tone with quite a bit of shimmer. I think pairing this with a dewy look would be a bad idea, as i could give the appearance of oily skin. Its a gorgeous colour on my pale skin, and would give a nice flush of shimmer to darker skintones

The highlighter in Gold-Digger is just as gorgeous, the powder is finely milled and applies like a dream. Like any highlighter with heavy shimmer, you need to be careful with application, but for the price, I can definitely recommend this one.

Last but not least, the nailpolishes. These suprised me, as you can see in my swtches below, the glitter topper looks very green toned, but when applied over a base colour, it turns true gold. I am currently wearing the bronze colour:Steel-ing the Scene, and am happy to report that it is opaque in one coat. The brush size on these is excellent and I had no application issues.

L-R Steel-ing the Scene, Steel-ing the Scene (Yep, they have the same name) and Gold Digger

Add in one dodgy mani for effect

 

Overall, I am very happy with my purchases. Metal Glam is Priceline exclusive and limited edition, so get them while you can!
Let me know if you’ve purchased these and loved or hated them

-Miss A

 

 

Review: Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Hey!

Apologies for the lack of posts, our planned once a week posting schedule has been interrupted by our university commitments. We will get better!

So, onto today’s post. I want to talk about the latest addition to my skincare routine. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water is Garnier’s take on the ever popular Bioderma Micellar Water.

This bad boy claims to 1)Remove Makeup 2) Cleanse and 3) Soothe. It also claims to have approximately 200 uses in one bottle. I bought it because I needed a lip friendly makeup remover that wasn’t going to murder my bank account.

First impression: I used this initially to just remove my makeup before cleansing my face at night, and holy heck is it effective. One cotton pad soaked in this stuff will take off my everyday makeup (Foundation, Setting Powder, Blush, Non-Waterproof Mascara)

One month down the track: I use this everyday, usually before I cleanse for the night, but sometimes additionally as a replacement for my toner on sensitive days. I use it to remove my makeup, it does take a little work to remove heavy/waterproof eye makeup, but is a gentle and effective remover.

My skin is reacting super well to the inclusion of this to my routine; it doesn’t mess with my oil production, and allows for a slightly gentler cleanse if I think toner is a bad idea. There is no fragrance, and no nasties that may aggravate sensitive skin.

At $11.99 for 400mls it is certainly friendlier on the wallet than many alternatives; and judging by my usage over the last month, this will get me very close to the advertised 200 uses.

I can highly recommend this if you’re in the market for a new toner, or a super face friendly makeup remover

Have you tried this, or any other cleansing waters? What was your experience?

Until next time

-Miss A

 

 

 

Maybelline NY FITme Shine Free Foundation Stick Review

I am the leader of the pale people.

Okay, so that may be an exaggeration. But I am pretty darn pale, it is almost guaranteed that if I go to buy a new foundation, I will be the second lightest shade in the range.

I also have oily skin; so you may feel my pain when it comes to finding a foundation in the finish you want (i.e does not melt off face/does not make you look like a human oil slick), in the shade you need, and within your budget constraints (I have only recently convinced myself that higher end foundations can most certainly be worth the price tag)

Maybelline NY has recently released a new addition to their FITme range; a foundation stick that is touted as “shine free”. Of course, the USA has had it for far longer than we have, and I actually grabbed one while I was over there because I liked the shade range of the FITme concept, but found that the liquid foundation just would not last on my skin. I wasn’t intending to review it, but lo and behold, IT CAME HERE (Now, can we have the baby skin too please?)

So, for my last few days out and about I have been rigorously testing this foundation (and risking melty/flaky/patchy/oily/orange disaster)

On each day, I followed the same routine, but changed up the primer each day. (See, rigorous!)

Primer, paint on foundation so I had whiskers/camo stripes, then used my Real Techniques expert face brush to blend my lovely stripes out onto my whole face (Note: The “official” Maybelline FITme page suggests blending in a circular motion with the fingers, but I am really starting to prefer my brushes over finger blending) blush and bronze, then set the whole shebang with Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder.

The primers I used were: Benefit Porefessional, Napoleon Set calming pre-foundation primer (green tube), and Face of Australia’s Face Base primer.

So, how did it shape up?

I found that all my primers yielded similar results, the major difference being that porefessional reduced the appearance of my pores slightly more under this particular foundation. Staying power, and oil levels were both fairly similar.
Now here is the scary part, picture of my face. The horrifically funny bit of this is, that when I went to do facial photos, I realised my skin is horrifically dry today, so these are not the best shots I could give you (forgive me, I’m sick)

My naked skin 😦

One hasty coat of foundation, hence the streaks, but it has obviously evened out my skintone here.

Final finish, set with Stay Matte.
You can see on the dry patch near my eye how it can cling.
Of all the days I get dry skin, it’s the day I’m reviewing a product based on my oily skin

For comparisons sake, here is the MNY FITme swatched against several of my foundations (How some of these were “matched” to my skintone, I will never know)

From the top down; MNY Fitme (110 Porcelain), Mac Studio Fix Fluid (NC15), Rimmel Match Perfection (081 Fair Ivory),MUFE HD Foundation (N117), Face of Australia Lasting Looks Natural Foundation (Natural Ivory), Australis Fresh & Flawless (Nude)

Positives
For me, the FITme stick foundation provided medium coverage for my entire Uni day (About 8 hours) without the need to touch up, the “Shine free” claims certainly held up their end. I found that this foundation didn’t pool in my pores, and it didn’t flake off or change considerably during the day. The coverage was quite natural, and can be built up to a medium coverage level. . It didn’t feel heavy or greasy, and wasn’t sliding around on my face. The recommended RRP isn’t too steep for a foundation I like this much, so I will probably repurchase this.

Negatives
I did find that I was becoming a little oily in my T-zone towards the end of the day, however I have been wearing my glasses, which tends to stimulate oil production in this area. It was easily fixed though, I applied Australis Matte Me underneath my primer in my T-zone, and the oiliness was significantly reduced. On the opposite side of the scale, I found that this foundation did cling to the one dry spot on my face, so if you do have drier skin, this could be an issue.
Also, the amount of product in the tube is a little less than one would expect (its a big tube, and the product stick within is quite small), the stick is just over 1/3 of an Ounce, whereas a standard foundation bottle is 1 ounce so you may not get as many uses out of this as you would a traditional bottle.

Overall
I think that the shade range is great, that shade 110 is a good mach for my skin and that this is potentially a good day to day foundation for those looking for a medium coverage foundation that is going to last through your work/school/uni day. If you have dry skin, you may need to play around a little to get it to work for you, but it is definitely worth a shot.

Have you tried this as well? Let me know how you fared!

-Miss A

Coming soon to Australia! Colorburst Matte & Lacquer Balms: Swatches & Review

Exciting news for Australian “drugstore” cosmetics, the followup products to Revlon’s incredible popular Just Bitten Kissible Balm stains; the ColorBurst Matte Balms and ColorBurst Lacquer Balms are coming to our stores in March.

After reading multiple confirmations that the products were coming here on the Revlon Australia facebook page, I have been keeping my eyes out for new displays. My local Priceline (Brisbane City) has put in new Revlon stands with spots for the lacquer and matte balms! they are currently empty, but from the looks of things they will share the same RRP as the Just Bitten range (approx $17.95)
Chemist Warehouse currently has them listed on their website for $14.99 (Reg $17.95), but state they are only available in store currently (They weren’t in stock my my local store however)

On a side note, The Just Bitten range is now under the ColorBurst line!

I managed to snag some of both ranges after they first appeared in the USA, and so I thought now would be a great time to share some swatches in case you want to grab some yourself!

My collection of Matte and Lacquer balms!

There are ten shades in each range, the shades in bold are the ones I currently own.
Matte Balm shades: Sultry (Darker toned pink with hints of brown and purple), Showy (Hot Pink), Unapologetic (Red toned hot pink),Audacious (Coral), Shameless (Purple/Aubergine), Elusive (Cool toned light pink), Complex (Peachy Nude, leaning pink rather than orange), Standout (Classic red with berry tones), Mischievous (Nude with heavy orange tones), Striking (Neutral medium red, not as dark as Standout)

Lacquer Balm shades: Coquette (Barbie-esque pink), Coy (Plum with brown undertones), Demure (Light pink), Enticing (crimson), Flirtatious (Dark pink),Ingenue (Nude),Provocateur (Hot berry pink), Tease (Coral with heavy orange tones), Vivacious (Cherry Red), Whimsical (Magenta)

Matte Swatches L to R: Standout, Sultry, Striking, Unapologetic

Matte Balms (Artificial Light)

Matte Balms (Natural Light)

Lacquer Swatches L to R: Enticing,Provocateur, Flirtatious, Coquette

Lacquer Balms (Artificial light)

Lacquer Balms (Natural light)

As you can see, the colour payoff from the matte balms is significantly greater than that of the lacquer balms. Flirtacious in particular is very obviously sheer on the lips, and the glitter pieces are a bit odd. Each of the swatches is 4 swipes across my wrist.

Both have a staying power of a few hours, and do leave behind a slight stain. Like the just bitten range, these have a mild peppermint scent.

Overall I prefer the matte balms, and would like to add to my collection.

Sorry I wasn’t brave enough to swatch on my lips! (Yet)
Which ones are you thinking about adding to your lip stash? I definitely need to grab elusive and complex when I find them on sale!

-Miss A

EDIT (16/03): I have today spotted the Matte and Lacquer Balms on display in Brisbane’s Queen Street Myer!
All lip products are currently 2 for $25 so you don’t have to feel too guilty about snapping them up straight away!

Starting on a negative note : January 2014 Lust Have It Review

Since my January LHI box arrived, I have been debating about whether to review it here, as my thoughts on it were very, very negative when it first arrived (and still is). I have been subscribed to LHI since January 2013, and my experience has been generally positive. The boxes have had their ups and downs, with two of the most prominent complaints I have noticed being a) Late boxes, or boxes getting completely lost in the post, and b) Products that are unsuitable for the subscriber eg; Dark products for light skinned persons, blonde shampoo for brunettes. Despite some slight issues and some products that are “unusable” for me personally, I have felt that I have been getting my moneys worth. This month however, was a different story.

I think it’s only fair to give honest reviews, and so here are my thoughts on my January box.
Before I start, some quick background about myself and Miss K. I am blonde with fine, straight hair, and very very fair, with oily skin whereas Miss K has olive skin and is a wavy haired brunette with dry, sensitive skin, so between us we can get use out of products for quite a wide range.

Standard Lust Have It box

Product card for my box- One of several variations

Contents of my Jan LHI box

The contents of my box are as follows

Invisible Zinc (Full Size) in Medium- Valued at $14.95
As I mentioned before, I am paler than pale, so this product does not work for me; I own this in light, and it is still a little too dark. I find these products very yellow toned, and quite oily. This product has been on the market for a long time, and is not exciting, new or interesting

Paulas Choice Skin Perfecting Gel (30ml sample)- Approx $11.70
This product is supposed to help even out skin tone, however it does come with a warning that the 8% glycolic acid content may increase skin sensitivity to the sun and increase risk of sunburn.
Great for all skin types my a**; I was excited to try this until reading that warning. Also $45+ for a 118ml product from a brand I am unsure of is absurd.

Simple Skincare Wipes (7 pack sample)- Approx $2.30
I’ve received this sample FOR FREE from Simple before. Twice. I have used these before, and they are pretty average. They remove makeup, but they certainly didn’t leave my skin as nice feeling as they are trying to sell

Coloursmash Hair Shadow (3g Sample) in blue Approx $ 12
I received this sample in pink at some point last year from LHI. At $15.60 for full size, this product is absurdly over-priced. It does what it says -temporarily colours your hair, but I doubt I am going to use this unless I decide to play dress ups.

Natralus- Naturasan Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer Chamomile and Apple Blossom (Full Size)- $4.49

This is the product that annoyed me the most this month, it’s hand sanitizer. I don’t like hand sanitizer personally, and the fact that they have put this in as a full sized product in a beauty box just adds to the disappointment this month

Aveda Hair Oil (3ml Sample) Approx $2.20

If this were a bigger sample, I would be excited. I am just starting to experiment with hair oil, and I have heard good things about Aveda. This sample is tiny, and would not be enough for Miss K’s mane.

Total value of my box = approx $48

The value of my box is the last annoyance this month. Since increasing the price of a monthly box to $19.95 last year, LHI promised $60+ value in each monthly box. My January box falls short of this goal, and for me the value of what I might actually use is somewhere near $15.

Yesterday the LHI CEO sent out an apology letter in regards to the late postage and arrival of the January boxes.
I personally wouldn’t have cared if my box hadn’t arrived until next week if it ensured that the quality would be up to the standards previously set.

If I weren’t locked in to an annual subscription that I have prepaid for, I would consider unsubscribing. After this fiasco, hopefully February will be a massive improvement.

If this massive rant hasn’t put you off, you can subscribe to Lust Have It here: http://www.lusthaveit.com.au

-Miss A